


Iron Heights Manor

by MagusLibera



Series: fics I wrote in quarantine as I chilled [13]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Actors, Alternate Universe - Actors, Co-Stars - Freeform, Comfort, F/M, Ghosts, Haunted Houses, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, I will probably continue this, Locked Down in a Haunted House, Paranormal, Protectiveness, Quarantine and Chill Fic Drive (Arrow TV 2012), movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:15:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23811430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagusLibera/pseuds/MagusLibera
Summary: Iron Heights Manor is an old house with a reputation for being haunted. When they stay back after wrap to run some lines, Oliver and Felicity begin to regret it as everything starts to crumble around them - literally.
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak
Series: fics I wrote in quarantine as I chilled [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1672840
Comments: 17
Kudos: 55
Collections: Quarantine and Chill Fic Drive 2020





	Iron Heights Manor

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all!
> 
> When I was trying to figure out what to name their characters, I wanted to use Ghost Fox Goddess as an influence for Felicity's character's name and I found the name Reynard which means fox and then made it feminine!
> 
> Yes, I am extremely proud of the word count.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

“And that’s a wrap for today!” announces John Diggle, already stepping down from his chair and turning to the rest of the crew to start closing up, “Good job everybody. Crew call is a bright and early five am tomorrow, so get some good rest tonight because it will be a long day.”

_Every day is a long day_ , Oliver thinks as he steps back from his co-star, Felicity Smoak. Not that he should be surprised, he would know better than anybody that John runs a tighter ship on set than he did in the marines, and with longer hours too, but the results are always worth it. Which is why this is his seventh project with his director and friend, something almost unheard of in their business. Felicity, on the other hand, he has never worked with before. She is new on the scene, fresh from some TV appearances that have been wildly acclaimed, this is her first job as something more than a guest star. And she is one of the leads.

And she is excellent.

Oliver has never met anybody who embodies their character quite as thoroughly as her. She does not just step into Rey Ghoul’s life, she becomes Rey in every way possible, when she steps back from the character it is like a whole different person is standing before him. And he very much likes that person. Felicity Smoak.

He just likes spending time with her. “Felicity?” he asks, catching her just as she begins to turn to leave for the night, “Would you mind staying back with me for a bit to run lines?” he does not need to run lines. He memorised the lines weeks ago and has them down to pat by now. He has no idea what he is doing.

She looks taken aback, “Uh… sure.” He feels guilty for making her do something that she is clearly reluctant to do.

“We don’t have to if you want to get back to the hotel.” He rushes to say, “I get it, you must be tired and really we don’t need to-”

“No! No, I want to.” She says, “We’ll just do a run through of the next few scenes and then head back?”

“Great.” He smiles.

*************************

They wait until the rest of the crew is packed up and gone, knowing that the chaos of everybody leaving will be too much for them to be able to get any work done but as soon as the manor is empty and silent, Oliver realises what he has done. He is playing Archer Hood, the second lead in the movie and the love interest of Rey. And tomorrow they are not just shooting any scene. They are shooting Rey and Archer’s first love scene.

Tomorrow, he gets to kiss Felicity Smoak for the first time, but it will be in character. Today, he has managed to get himself alone with her and in position to read the dialogue between the two characters in the build up to and even during their sex.

His face feels like it is running hotter than the sun, nerves practically choking him at the thought.

“Okay, so do you want to take it from the top of the scene or just when the… um… when they… when… uh…” she trails off, and Oliver can see the bright red colouring her cheeks. Well at least he is not the only one feeling the awkwardness.

“Yeah, let’s just take it from the top.” He says, knowing that he will need the time to prepare and move back into Archer’s headspace a little so that they can do the scene without him dying of embarrassment when the problem that he has whenever he is in a room with Felicity becomes _extremely_ visible.

They start reading their lines, playing out the argument that Archer and Rey have when her obsession gets in the way of his job, the words from their mouths becoming more and more heated as their characters grow angrier. As always, Oliver has to continuously remind himself that he is Archer, not Oliver and that Archer is angry with Rey, not Felicity so that he can keep going. She is just so incredible to watch, her every movement and word is mesmerising. Her acting skills are off the charts.

And then they get to the part and Oliver realises that no amount of preparing or procrastinating will ever make him ready for reading the words on the page that detail exactly how his first kiss with the beautiful girl before him is supposed to go.

_REY launches herself at ARCHER, their lips crash together in a passionate display. The kiss to end all kisses. Without hesitation, ARCHER wraps his arms around her, pulling her into him._

But even as nervous as he is, and as much as he wishes that it was just he and Felicity stood across from one another, bodies almost pressed together as they spit furious words that they do not mean at one another, Oliver cannot stop himself from leaning in. Every molecule in his body is ready for the feeling of hers against his, her lips moving in tandem with his own. And just as she comes to the end of her line, a glint of nervousness dancing in her eyes as she looks up at him and coils back, prepared to spring into his arms-

CRASH.

The entire building shakes, the very foundations of it rumbling under the pressure of something falling. Something _collapsing_. The lights flicker and vanish, leaving them in almost complete darkness, their only lighting coming from the battery powered lamp in the corner. Both Oliver and Felicity jump back, a good few feet of space appearing between them. Felicity lets out a frightened little yelp, Rey falling away from her as her eyes dart around at the room they are in, searching for the source of the noise.

Oliver’s heart starts pounding and he realises that he has leapt in front of Felicity, putting his body between her and the direction that the noise came from instinctively.

“Oliver?” she asks, that beautiful voice of hers trembling as she tries to hide her fear. Oliver hates the sound of her afraid, he wants to wrap her in his arms and soothe away the pain but he knows that it would be no good. He is just as afraid as she is, “What was that?”

“I don’t know.” He responds, gulping as he starts to move. He walks over to the props, grabbing a couple of fake, but still harmful weapons. He wishes there was an arrow on set. He is actually a good archer, thanks to some childhood lessons and all of the training that he did to play Archer. He has a bow here. A real, functional bow, but unfortunately he does not have anything to shoot with that bow thanks to any kind of thin, high speed projectile having actual dangerous capabilities no matter how blunt.

He has no idea what is out there waiting for them, but he is not about to take any chances and hands a staff over to Felicity without a second glance, wholly focused on figuring out what is going on. Cautiously, he places a hand on the door, steeling himself to step out into the unknown. “Oliver?” Felicity asks again, “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to check out whatever that was.”

“And that required a prop sword… because?” she questions.

Oliver is fully aware of how ridiculous he will seem if he answers that truthfully, “It just does.” He insists, and before Felicity has another chance to say anything, he is swinging the door open and edging out into the hallway.

He can see nothing of note, just a dark, long space. Completely empty. He takes tentative steps as he goes, making it halfway down the hallway before he nearly jumps out of his skin at the sound of a second crash, this one coming from behind him, exactly where Felicity is. 

Without a second thought, his hesitation vanishes and he bolts back into the room, brandishing the fake sword before him as he prepares to be met with anything. He has never felt such tension, such fear mixed with guilt as it is. If she is hurt it is his fault. He left her alone in there, he should never have left her alone. He bursts into an empty room, head swivelling from left to right in pursuit of whatever may have caused that crash. Nothing. Where is Felicity?

A smaller, quieter clatter catches his attention, drawing his gaze down to the floor, where Felicity lies in a heap of props. He kneels, checking her over and offering his hand, “Hey, are you okay? What happened?” She mumbles a response but he cannot hear, “Felicity, I can’t hear what you’re saying.”

“I was trying to follow you and I tripped over that staff and fell into the props.” She admits, cheeks aflame.

“You need to be more careful.” Oliver admonishes affectionately, offering out a hand to help her up. He loves how clumsy she is. He yanks on her arm slightly too hard, bringing her stumbling straight into his chest. Her free hand lands over his pecs, the other still tightly in his grasp and she lets out a little squeak. Oliver gulps, his chest tingling where her hand lies before he abruptly lets go, releasing her hand and clearing his throat, “I thought something awful had happened to you and got worried.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay, come on.” He says, unwilling to let her out of his sight again, especially since he now knows that she will not just wait quietly for him to investigate. Stubborn, independent, wonderful woman.

Before he can think better of it, his hand is stretching out to take hers, pulling her along behind him as they advance down the hallway again. She is so tiny, her hand practically vanishes in the grip of his own, and he has to encircle part of her wrist to fit them together too. He loves it. He wants it every second of every day.

They reach the end of the hallway and take a left, heading towards where they both know the entrance is automatically. Only to find their way is blocked. Everything has collapsed. The walls themselves, the entire entrance hall has seemingly imploded and is completely blocking the main of the two exits from the building. And the only staircase to the next floor.

“Oliver!” Felicity gasps, looking at the destruction.

“I know. I know, Felicity.” He squeezes her hand in his, grounding himself in the knowledge that she is safe beside him whilst simultaneously hating himself for taking comfort in the fact that she is in this situation with him, “We’re trapped.”

Felicity stops for a moment, deep in thought, “The back door.” She says, “There’s a second entrance, we can get out through that!”

“You’re remarkable.” He says, so happy that she is so much smarter than he is.

“Thank you for remarking on it.” Also, so much more adorable than he is.

*************************

The two of them back trace their steps, finding their way to the ballroom where they had been filming an action scene involving an attack from the Phantom of the Clock King.

They are currently shooting a paranormal romance that takes its name from the place where it is set, Iron Heights Manor. The manor is an old English house, owned by Lord William Tockman in the eighteen hundreds. The legend is that he had an obsession with clocks and timing, one that became so severe that it overtook his whole life, driving him insane in his pursuit of perfection. It was then that he started killing people. All around the town of Starling, people started to go missing and it was rumoured that they had gone up to the manor and never returned. With no evidence, Police Inspector Ghoul had made his way up there to confront Tockman, and had found all of the bodies in horrific conditions, defiled by the mad lord and contorted into parts of clocks.

He had rushed to arrest Tockman, only to be confronted by the man standing over the still living body of a child – the latest to go missing – brandishing a piece of a clock as he prepared to kill his thirteenth victim. Ghoul had leapt in, knocking Tockman back and initiating a violent fight. In the end, Tockman had fallen upon one of his own devices, but not before burying the clock piece into the Inspector’s neck.

The Inspector had died that day, but he had saved the life of that child, and countless others who could have fallen prey to Lord Tockman in the years to come. After, people had started to notice strange things at Iron Heights. Unusual bouts of weather, noises in an otherwise empty house, a strangeness fell over the place. And nobody would buy it for decades. When somebody finally came along, over thirty years after the incident, they had been run out. And there had been a string of people who either died in freak accidents at the manor, or who would leave there only weeks after moving in, never the same again.

The Legend of the Phantom of the Clock King had begun, the dead killer was rumoured to still roam the halls in a ghostly form, keeping guard over his clocks and waiting to enact his revenge on the Inspector. The movie that Oliver and Felicity are filming is sort of a modern take on the legend. Oliver’s character, Archer, is a member of a private protection service known for his use of a bow and arrow. He is hired by Rey, Felicity’s character to both help her and help keep her safe. Rey is the descendent of Police Inspector Ghoul, she is searching for answers about the case that has haunted her family since his heroic deed. Every member of her family has fallen prey to some horrific and unlikely end long before their time and she is trying to find out why by heading back to the place where it all began.

Of course, Archer is sceptical about the entire thing but as he does his best to keep Felicity out of trouble and convince her to stop the, seemingly, pointless endeavour, he falls for her. And then Tockman’s ghost shows up, proving Felicity correct and a showdown, mirroring that from the legend, ensues. During which Oliver’s character is revealed as a descendent of Tockman’s sister. It is all very exciting and Oliver has been loving the shoot. Especially his co-star.

  
He is loving it a little less now that he and Felicity – the incredible girl he has found himself falling for just as easily as Archer falls for Rey – are trapped inside an exceptionally creepy, clock filled, usually abandoned and potentially haunted house. Especially since tonight was the night that he was planning to ask her out to dinner. Which, he does realise is slightly odd since they are filming a fairly graphic sex scene together tomorrow but it is the first time that he has been able to get her alone, without fear of one of their colleagues interrupting or overhearing or coming into one of their hotel rooms.

*************************

It takes the two of them five minutes to make it to the other side of the house, never letting go of one another’s hands as they go. It is a very large house. When they finally make their way past the winding hallways and Tockman’s hideous décor that remains to this day in some sort of museum style tourist attraction, Oliver’s heart leaps in hope. The way is clear. There is nothing there, just empty space and a beckoning door.

“It’s clear!” he exhales, relief in every syllable as he retightens his hand around Felicity’s and starts to move faster towards their escape.

There is no warning before the ceiling starts to collapse. One second it is a sturdy, ordinary roof and the next, cracks are spreading like lightening along it, giving Oliver and Felicity barely any time to react before the stone comes crumbling down.

“Felicity!” Oliver screams, his world slowing down as he watches a slab of rock, almost as big as himself, start to fall down directly where she is standing. There is no time to think about anything, he is reacting before he is doing anything else. He launches his body at her, forcibly thrusting her out of the way as he crashes down to the ground, the roof falling in pieces all around them.

*************************

For a split second, he thinks that he has saved them both, that he jumped far enough to get both he and Felicity clear but then his left leg explodes into pain from the knee down, an ear rending screech spilling from his mouth.

“Oliver!” Felicity scrambles up off the ground, crawling over to him as she inspects the damage, “Your…” she gulps, “Your leg, Oliver.”

He grunts, trying not to let her know just how much pan he is in. He would not want for her to worry. They have enough to worry about as it is.

“I’m okay,” he lies, sounding less convincing than he would like as he says it through gritted teeth, “Can you get out?” Felicity looks up, her face falling immediately and she then shakes her head.

“I’m going to call nine-one-one to get you out of here.” She says.

“It’s nine-nine-nine here.” Oliver reminds her.

“Right.” She gets out her phone and it drops, “My phone is dead, what about yours?”

“Pocket.”

She pulls the phone from his pocket, careful not to jostle him and oblivious to how much he is enjoying the experience, aside from the consuming pain from where his foot is still under half a meter of the first floor. “That’s dead too.” Panic has started to seep into her voice as she looks down on him.

“What? No. It had eighty percent and I haven’t used it since.”

“Well you explain this them!” she shoves it into his face and, sure enough, there is the little dead battery symbol.

“I- I can’t”

“Is there anywhere to charge it?” she asks, already thinking of their next ten steps.

“No electricity in the building, Felicity.” He reminds her, “The only electricity is from the generators and they’re outside. And besides, I don’t have a charger, do you?”

“Frack!” she curses in that adorable way of hers, taking Oliver’s mind away from his leg temporarily.

“Felicity, I think you’re going to have to lift this thing off of me and we’ll have to climb out of a window.”

“I… I’m not strong enough.” She whispers. Oliver is not quick enough to get in an encouraging response, “The staff!” she exclaims, brandishing the item in her hand. “It’s made of steel! I can use it like a lever and create a moment around the turning point and that will make it lift!” and then she is sticking one end into the gap between the floor and the fallen ceiling, working it in along Oliver’s leg slowly.

Once she has it where she wants it, she starts to push on the end that is still exposed. Oliver is amazed to see that the rock actually starts lifting. Her face is all scrunched up – _so cute_ – but Oliver can see how much effort this is taking her, so he wastes no time in dragging himself forwards and away. She lets the rock fall with a mighty thud.

“Windows.” Oliver says, panting from his escape. “We can use the window to get out.”

“Okay… just… you lean on me,” she hooks his arm around her neck, “And use this as a crutch.” She hands him the staff and then grabs his sword for herself.

Together, they manage to get him upright on his one still functioning leg, and they begin to hobble back again. There are not many windows on the ground floor, just three. One is in the entrance, which is blocked. Another has just been blocked in the same incident that has left Oliver incapable of walking unaided. The last is in the tea room, not far away.

It takes them twice as long to get there as it should have, Oliver’s pace being abysmal, and Oliver is relieved to see that the door is still intact. No signs of building damage. Felicity reaches for the door handle, hand gripping it and she- does not twist. It refuses to budge. It does not even rattle. There is no sign of movement. Like the door is locked or blocked by something.

Felicity leads him to the wall, leaning him against it in a way so gentle that he nearly jumps out of his skin when she turns around and, with a yell, runs at the wall, trying to kick it in. For three minutes, she keeps battering an unflinching door with increasing levels of anger and distress, desperate for a sign of movement, for some give. None comes.

“Felicity. Felicity!” Oliver repeats, trying to get her attention. “There’s no point. You’re just hurting yourself.” A small sob escapes her, “We’re in a collapsing building, Felicity, and there is no way out. Not right now. But it seems to be slow and everywhere else still seems fine, so all we have to do is make it through the night and then the crew will arrive tomorrow to save us.”

“But you’re hurt.” She sniffles.

“I’ll be fine for a night. It’s late, we should find somewhere to wait out the night.” He says.

*************************

The two of them return to the ballroom first, gathering all of their things as well as the first aid supplies and several more props that the two of them think could be useful. They agree that the best place to go is the bedroom. There is a comfortable place for the two of them to stay, as well as some comfortable clothes, intended for them to wear between takes as they will both be mostly naked for much of the next day.

It is not far, and they make it in no time. Felicity is extremely careful but diligent as she wraps up his horribly bruised, possibly broken and definitely strained foot all the way up to his knee. It still hurts, but her delicate touch makes the pain easier to bear.

When he is all wrapped up in a temporary splint that will more than do the job until Oliver can get to a proper doctor, the two of them get changed and ready themselves for bed. They have already decided to share, neither wanting to be too far from the other in case something else happens.

Oliver is both thrilled and devastated. On the one hand, he is about to share a bed with the woman of his dreams. On the other, this is not how he had imagined or hoped for it to happen.

He is still the first to sit on the bed, eager as he is. Also, he sort of needs to be sitting down to keep the weight off his foot, but his anticipation is definitely part of it. But then he notices Felicity biting her lip as she looks between the door, the ceiling and the bed.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, recognising her worried face.

“It doesn’t feel right.” She says, rushing to explain, “The bed is so exposed. Anything could happen and we wouldn’t even be prepared for it because we’d be asleep!”

“What should we do then?” _anything_ to make her more comfortable.

She looks around the room, thoughtful and then looks back at him, almost like she is sizing him up. “The desk.” She decides, “It should be big enough to fit even you and it looks like it is sturdy enough to offer some protection should there be a problem.” Oliver looks at the desk. She is right, it does look sturdy and it is large. But he has doubts about his ability to fit under there, Felicity, cast and all.

But she looks so worried, “Okay.” He agrees.

_Anything to make her happy._

*************************

Felicity gets straight to work, stripping the bed of all of its sheets and grabbing cushions from the sofa opposite the desk as she makes them a little home under it. She also pads it with the spare sofa pillows on each side, to prevent either of them from falling outside of the protection. She even makes a little elevated platform at the end for his foot.

He has to admit, it looks very cosy and comfy. And it also means that he and Felicity will have to snuggle as closely as possible in order to fit under there. He is not about to complain about that.

She helps him over, easing him down and his leg onto the raised section. He is surprised to find that he does fit. It is a tight fit, but he fits nonetheless. He sees Felicity biting her lip again, like she always does when she is overthinking something and he understands. She is scared, anxious about all of the uncertainties surrounding the situation and the fact that she is about to share a bed with her co-star. He is just as nervous. If not more. After all, he is strongly attracted to said co-star.

Opening his arms, he says, “Come on Felicity. You need to get some sleep too.” And then she is slipping in with him, pulling a cushion over the entrance and plunging them into full darkness. Just the two of them.

She settles back into his arms, there is no room for anything else, and he feels her back press against his chest. Her heart is fluttering, her breaths coming in gasps and all Oliver wants to do is calm her down.

“Felicity?” she hums her response, “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Of course.” She sounds surprised, “I just did what anyone would do.”

“No.” he argues, “Not anyone.” And then he presses a kiss to the crown of her head and she goes silent, “Goodnight, Felicity.”

“Goodnight, Oliver.” She whispers back, her heart slowing.

And if his arms tighten around her a little more, it is just to make sure she is still safely inside their little den. Not because he wants to keep her as close to him as possible.

And if she snuggles back into him when he does, it is just to maximise their space usage. Not because she likes the feeling of his arms around her.

**Author's Note:**

> Me: plans out a nice one-shot, not that long, good times.
> 
> Also me: writes way too much for the first part of the plan, spots three places that could be cool chapter breaks, uses two of them to make a 3-shot.
> 
> Just be glad I didn't end it on ANOTHER cliffhanger at the point where the building fell on Oliver. I very, very nearly did.
> 
> Anyway, wash your hands, stay indoors where possible and thank the key workers out there risking their lives for us whenever you get the chance.
> 
> I'm on twitter [@MagusLibera](https://twitter.com/MagusLibera).


End file.
